July 4th Haul-iday

Having Sylvester pose by the flag was about the only thing I did that remotely resembled celebrating July 4th. It was more a work day than holiday. And by work I mean strenuous physical labor!

Hubby and I slept in but then went for a walk around the lake to start our day. The Wazeecha trail is just under 4 miles. With the temps rising, it was plenty warm at mid-morning so I decided I would take my first of 4 showers today when I got home. Even though I knew I was heading out to do yard work and I would sweat some more, I wanted to start "fresh."

The front rock garden-type area that I was hacking weeds in yesterday underwent round 2 today when I was digging up roots of several of the shrubs and crap we wanted removed. Let me tell you, weeding is a helluva lot easier than digging. I was dripping with sweat and swearing at some of the plants for being so gosh darn big!

It was not fun and I ran out of some "pegs" I was using to lay down some weed cover/underlayment thing. So I had to shower before I could go to Home Depot. While we were there, Jim and I looked at some new, taller retaining wall blocks to go around that garden area. We didn't find what we wanted exactly so road-tripped to Menards in Plover. Found something there we both liked but, since each "brick" was 29 pounds, could only load 20 in the back of our CRV. Will have to return for the other 63 tomorrow or Monday. Probably using the neighbor's truck so we can maybe get it in one load. Thank goodness we weren't driving my hybrid. That probably could haul a max of 2 bricks!

Got home, resumed my landscaping project and Casey came out to visit. He was home from Eau Claire for the weekend. Took him out to eat at Anchor Bay (after Shower #3). I should say he took us! Got to ride there in style in his 1985 Cadillac!

Had a nice visit and great meal! A ton of people there and boating right in front of there on the Wisconsin River. Gorgeous day for that!

Came home and resumed the project one more time so I could lay the 20 bricks in place. Had to borrow some dirt from the neighbor to make things level. Really felt like a farm girl or something today! Of course, sweat and dirt meant I had to shower one more time before I could got back to the neighbor's for a campfire.

We opted to sit around and chill out there rather than going to the fireworks in town. We definitely could hear them all around us and got a glimpse of a few. I was just too darn tired to think about trying to find a spot in town to park, then find a place to sit and watch. The fire was much more relaxing.

As holidays should be.... at some point in the day, right?

Running in Circles

I don't always go running in the winter time, but when I do, it's usually running errands on a Saturday.

Since we didn't have UBC class today due to our instructor doing Black Belt testing, I got to sleep in. I was going to walk on the treadmill and catch up on Orange is The New Black, but hubby hopped on it first. As an alternative, I found myself literally dusting off my old Billy Blanks Tae-Bo DVD. Wow, haven't done that in years. It was a good workout. Glad I didn't play hooky.

After that, I mapped out my plan for the day. I mean really mapped it out. Much like juggling, running errands is best to do in a circular fashion. Saves time and, in this case, gas. Plus it was cold out and I just wanted to minimize time out in this weather.

For my first stop, I made a B-line east (ha, County Trunk B, get it?) to Amherst to watch our Assumption Middle School girls play hoops. A couple friends have 7th and 8th grade daughters who play so I wanted to catch them in action. Unfortunately, they lost the game I saw by one point.

But, there was still a bonus...

I don't always travel 30 minutes to a middle school hoops tournament, but when I do, I pick the good ones! Oh yes! King Cone was actually vending there! I am probably the only person in frigid Wisconsin who spilled a drop of Oreo Grasshopper ice cream on their winter scarf today. But it was soooo worth it!

From Amherst, I followed my circle northwest to Fleet Farm in Stevens Point, where I had to exchange the Carhartt bibs I got Jim for Christmas. Now he has UN-quilted ones so he won't have to walk around like the Michelin Man when he blows snow.

From there, I went southwest to Plover to Menards. (Fleet AND Menards? This was a sort of redneck circle!) I knew my way around, though. Just had to pick up a few items there with a gift card.

After that, it was just westward ho to home.

Later, when hubby got home from visiting his aunt and uncle, we went to Wal-Mart for the final errand of the day. My to-do list and circle was complete.

Carter has to work tonight, so now, after running in circles, I can relax and read. Maybe watch a bit of football, though I don't care who wins.

I might also have to Google when Amherst is hosting their next basketball tournament!

Help Wanted: Shopping skills required

I'm officially discounting any previous claim that I am "gearhead." If you throw out my minimal knowledge of NASCAR and truckin', I am as befuddled as the next princess when it comes to finding my way around a home improvement store.

Each Christmas, we draw names in Jim's family. There are only 6 of us adults so by the laws of averages, I should have gotten each person at least once, right? Instead, this is at least the fourth year I have drawn my brother-in-law ... proud to be a true gearhead (as in former racecar driver and now the crew chief/mechanic for his 13-year-old racing son).

On his list were two items with very specific names -- even model numbers. Alas, that didn't tell me anything. They might as well have been written in Japanese or Greek because I was clueless what they were. All I knew is that I could find them at Menards. Well that was a start.

Since I didn't want to look foolish walking into the store, I searched for the items on the Internet. I did not find an exact match but because they mentioned "retractable cords," I had it all figured out: Power tools.

I walked into the store, armed with my list and a semi-confident speculation of where I needed to go. I did walk up and down several aisles and nothing looked/sounded familiar. I got frustrated just enough I knew it was time to ask for help. (What is it -- I'm in a guy's store so I can't ask for directions?)

I walked up to the help desk and a woman was working behind it (no more stereotyping). I explained my conundrum and showed her the list. "That would be in electrical," she said. "Oh, at the other side of the store?" I asked. "Yep, right where you came in." Oh yes, I was definitely out of my element here. It would be like Jim walking into a scrapbooking store and trying to find what's on my list!

No surprise, once I trekked back to my starting point, I did find the two items exactly matching the words on the list. I still don't know what they are, but my brother-in-law will be happy to open them on Christmas Eve.

What did I learn from this? Some people are easy to buy for -- but hard to shop for. If you don't know what they want, ask. If they tell you and you still don't know, ask. If you don't want to ask, you can't go wrong with gift cards.